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U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a third straight day, as a jump in housing starts overshadowed disappointing results from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Intel Corp. The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 0.4 percent to 1,460.91 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index has gained 2.3 percent this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 5.22 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 13,557 today. IBM, which accounts for more than 11 percent of the share-price-weighted Dow, took 80 points off the gauge today. About 6.3 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 5.1 percent above the three-month average.

“The housing number was amazing,” Randall Warren, who oversees $75 million as chief investment officer of Warren Financial Service in Exton, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. “Corporate earnings have been strong in a slow growth environment, so if housing can help improve the economy then we could see a move up in stocks.” U.S. equities rose as Commerce Department figures showed new-house construction jumped 15 percent to an 872,000 annual rate last month, the most since July 2008 and exceeding all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The median estimate of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 770,000.

An S&P gauge of 11 homebuilder stocks rose 3.2 percent. The S&P 500 has rallied 16 percent this year and is about 7 percent below its all-time high of 1,565.15 reached in October 2007. Of the 73 companies in the equity benchmark that have reported since Oct. 9, 54 have posted earnings that exceeded analyst estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg show.  

Utilities, financial and energy shares had the biggest gains among 10 groups in the S&P 500, climbing at least 1.1 percent. Technology shares had the largest decline, tumbling 0.8 percent as a group. Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor maker, dropped 2.5 percent to $21.79. IBM dropped 4.9 percent, the most since October 2009, to $200.63 after the world’s biggest computer-services provider reported revenue that dropped 5.4 percent to $24.7 billion. Facebook Inc. (FB) climbed 2.1 percent to $19.88 after a research report said the social network owner is showing signs of success in a push to make money from mobile users.     [Bloomberg]

Asian stock markets were higher on Wednesday after Moody's reaffirmed its rating on Spanish debt, helping Australian and Hong Kong shares hit multi-month highs. Regional market sentiment improved after Moody's Investors Service affirmed Spain's government bond rating - keeping the country's government debt rating at Baa3, one notch above junk territory, with a negative outlook. Brent crude oil fell on Wednesday as lingering worry about the global economy overshadowed relief that Spain avoided a ratings downgrade and optimism prompted by firm U.S. corporate results.

Malaysia's index futures spot month contract closed higher yesterday  at 1665.5, in line with gains in Asian stock markets after Moody's reaffirmed its rating on Spanish debt. The benchmark KLCI  index will likely remain above the key 1655 level though analysts caution that profit-taking activity may set in at these lofty levels; strong resistance is tipped at the index's 1668 all-time high. Immediate Support is located around 1,658, while  further upside confirmation will appear if the index futures manage to breach above previous high or higher high around 1,671 level.